Signs await picketers on Church Street in Burlington on the first day of the CCTA bus drivers' strike March 17. / PHILIP TORTORA/FREE PRESS

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Free Press Staff Writer

Is it two issues that separate the Chittenden County Transportation Authority and its striking bus drivers, or is it four issues?

The two sides can’t even agree on what separates them as the strike enters its second week today.

Management said Sunday four issues are on the table, while the union maintains they had only two issues to resolve when they met in secret session with federal mediator Cynthia Jeffries of Albany, N.Y., on Saturday.

Both CCTA and the union said Jeffries instructed them not to disclose to taxpayers or the media the site of the negotiations on Saturday.

Attempts by the Burlington Free Press to reach Jeffries on Sunday were unsuccessful.

It was unclear when the two sides might meet again. The union said no negotiating sessions are planned.

The ball is in the hands of striking CCTA drivers after the seven-hour weekend session failed to secure a new union contract, said Bill Watterson, CCTA’s general manager.

He said the CCTA management delivered another compromise proposal to the union on Saturday in the hope of ending the strike.

Watterson said the talks centered on four issues highlighted by the union: compensation, cameras on the bus, including the use of anonymous complaints to discipline drivers, the use of part-time drivers and the length of the work day because of the split shifts expected for drivers.

The union offered only a one paragraph news release after the negotiating session failed.

The union said the CCTA was unwilling to address the two issues that lead to a 100 percent rejection of the last contract offer on March 12.

“The message was made clear to the company that the acceptance of any contract offer by their employees would be dependent on their acceptance of the Unions proposal,” said the Teamsters, the bargaining agent for the drivers.

It said the CCTA did not produce a change in the discipline article. This has been a very important issue for the membership,” wrote Tony St. Hilaire, business agent for Teamsters Local 597.

Multiple attempts to speak to St. Hilaire or the Teamsters for elaboration were unsuccessful.

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The strike has caused a major disruption for both workers and students in the Chittenden County area. Besides Burlington’s municipal assessment, the city school district pays CCTA $130,000 a year to allow students to ride free to and from school; students now have to find alternative transportation.

Watterson said he believes it is up to the union’s bargaining team to bring the new CCTA offer to the full membership or to come up with its own counter offer.

Watterson said the union wanted management on Saturday to take what the Teamsters had previously demanded.

“The Union ultimately rejected CCTA’s proposed compromise and walked out of negotiations without notice while the CCTA was still actively engaged with the federal mediators at 8:20 p.m.,” Watterson said in a news release.

Watterson said while the CCTA and the drivers appeared in agreement for a six percent pay increase spread over three years of the proposed contract, now the union wants more.

The proposed starting base salary would increase from $42,500 to $45,000 under the current proposal, he said.

Union demands continue to be out of line with CCTA’s obligation to operate a safe, affordable and reliable public transportation system, he said.

The CCTA drivers are the second highest paid transit drivers in northern New England behind Portland, Maine.